by John Weber

Created on: February 12, 2009   Last Updated: March 04, 2009

In politics, much is made of a new President's First 100 Days, but considering our rapidly expanding YouTube universe, a more accurate descriptor might be Flavor of the Week.

And while there's no doubt Obama Bold continues to be the world's number one taste sensation, making the covers of major magazines worldwide, the President did have to share headlines with the Super Bowl and a raging Rush Limbaugh (filling the void left by Republican's everywhere).

Now while the Super Bowl annually rises to the top of the charts in the public consciousness, Limbaugh's emergence can be seen as both a good and bad thing.

Good in that democracy, or at least difference of opinion, is alive and well, bad in that just days after an inauguration that elevated the world's sense of hope and promise, knives were already being sharpened, bi-partisanship seemed more like a sinking ship, and the promise of "Yes, We Can" appeared to be more limited to winning an election than to leading a faltering nation from malaise.

Why the change, so soon? Well, the new President, omnipresent media, and a Republican Party less reeling from shellshock can take equal credit/share equal blame.

For example, was it just me or did Obama seem at a near-loss for words following news that Wall Street barons had awarded themselves billions in bonuses; paid, incredulously, from the government's recent bail-out?

Was it just me or was there a hint of futility in the wet-noodle scolding he gave, promising to further address the issue . . . when? . . . after the Super Bowl?

Clearly, the rats had jumped ship and taken the wind from its sails with them. Or to put the new President's plea for selflessness in more SuperBowlian vernacular, there really is no "I" in "team" . . . especially when there's no team to begin with.

But maybe that's just the way it is in today's jolts-per-second, multi-media world. We raise our kings just to tear them down. Ride them in on a wave of high ratings, then watch them drown in a sea of questions from a constant stream of reporters and political analysts. It's the new-millennia way: make our leaders steer the ship while simultaneously walking the plank; slings and arrows of outrageous scrutiny or 21st century "democracy"?

Anyway . . . was it just me or did the President have a few more gray hairs?

Fair or not, the early-season scorecard reads something like this: after a euphoric inauguration that left most the world warm and fuzzy, Obama clearly lost points with the appointment of tax-evader

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